Parking, trained staff hospital’s major concerns

AN ONGOING lack of parking and the number of trained staff to operate new equipment are chief concerns for locals about Tamworth hospital’s redevelopment.

AN ONGOING lack of parking and the number of trained staff to operate new equipment are chief concerns for locals about Tamworth hospital’s redevelopment.

NEW HOSPITAL: An artist’s impression of how the new entrance to the hospital will look. The current kitchen will be demolished to make way for a circular driveway.

Tamworth hospital general manager Brad Hansen fielded questions at a community information session last week and acknowledged the current parking situation was “less than ideal”.

“It’s very difficult at the moment, because we are sharing the carpark with the construction team,” he said.

He said around 200 parking spaces would become available at the end of the redevelopment.

Locals also expressed concern about when new facilities would be in use.

The redevelopment will see 55 new treatment spaces open up across different wards, as well as eight new operating theatres.

But not all theatres will be in use when the redevelopment is complete – three will sit idle until funding is secured in the coming years. Hospital staff indicated they would source health funding as demand for surgical services grows.

Support services at the hospital (including kitchen, cleaning, linen and waste) will relocate to the lower levels of the new building as early as mid-

September, while construction continues on the upper levels. Clinical services will be moved in March or April.

Patients at Nioka palliative care will be moved to a temporary location in December this year over Christmas, before settling in the new facility around Easter.

The kitchen will also be demolished late this month or early October to make way for a circular driveway and main drop-off zone.